


Saving grace

by RexxieRoulette



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Boarding School, Depression, F/M, Fighting, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, One Shot, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 03:10:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19220368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RexxieRoulette/pseuds/RexxieRoulette
Summary: Percy is Annabeth's new roommate.





	Saving grace

**‘ _Boarding school sucks._**

__Don't get me wrong, I love reading, and learning. Do not call me a nerd, or I will hit you. Got it? Good. Anyway, back to what I was saying. School itself is great. What isn't great is having to live here. Especially in a place so damn far away from any other sort of civilization! Like hello. Do the people who run this place not realize they are housing TEENAGERS here. Ugh. It might not have been so bad, if I had a girl roomie as well. But alas, co-ed dorms, means co-ed roommates. Which means I would have had to change in my bathroom every morning, or knock before I entered in case they were in here with a poor girl._ _

__My luck is forthcoming though, and we have an uneven amount of students, so I get the room to myself. Which is good. I hate sharing. I hate people. I just want to do my work, get school over with, and go to Columbia for college. That's not too difficult to grasp, right? Good._ _

__I know what you're thinking. Poor Annabeth, with that attitude, you must not have any friends. Well HA. Jokes on you. I do have friends. My best friends are Piper and Thalia. They aren't so lucky and have yucky boy roommates. Though Thalia has her brother Jason as a roomie, so it's not that gross, I guess. Poor Pipes has to room with an over eccentric, highly annoying Leo though. How she gets anything done is beyond me._ _

__All the dorm rooms look exactly alike though, so I have to deal with a stupid bunk-bed even though I'm all alone. Mostly my stuff is strewn about on the top bunk, and I use the bottom one in case I want to watch a movie on the TV or something. My desk is covered with books, papers and pictures. Normal. All very normal. All very according to plan. The headmaster mentioned we might get a new girl, so at least my luck is good for something. The plan is simple;_ _

__Study_ _

__Graduate_ _

__Get accepted and attend Columbia_ _

__No_ _ __ boys. _ _

__No_ _ __ parties. _ _

__No_ _ __ fun. _ _

__Anyway. It's about to be 7am, and I haven't gone for my morning run yet, so I should be off. '_ _

Annabeth shut her computer, and put on her shoes. Her morning run was the only time she got fresh air during the day, since all her classes were in one building. The cafeteria is in the mess hall, on the other side of campus, but she usually spends her lunches in the library, studying and working on extra work. After school she works at the library, it doesn't pay a bunch, but a little extra cash works wonders when you need a snack in class.

As she laces up her shoes, she sighs and pulls her hair up into a tight ponytail high on her head, making her blond curls bounce around and frame her face. Finally ok with not looking like a troll, she heads out, locking the door and jogging down the steps to the outside world. As she bursts through the front door she inhales deeply, and smiles. Mid October air slaps her in the face, and she zips up her sweater all the way to protect her skin from drying out.

She sets off towards the woods outlining the campus, taking her long course this morning. Looping around toward the main office, she stops to take a breather and notices a new car in the parking lot. Checking her heart rate, she decides to ignore it and keep running. Probably the new girl she was getting for a roommate. She didn't clean out her room that much, but it was enough to manoeuvre around without hitting too many things. She hoped.

As she continued her circuit of the school, she came across the pool house and heard a splash. Stopping only for a second, still bouncing on the balls of her feet, she peered into the big glass window just in time to see a flurry of black hair and toned limbs dive into the water. Sighing, she continued on her way, heading home to take a shower. As she walked into her room, she looked at the clock and saw it read  **7:55AM**. Content with having 35 minutes to get ready, she pulled her hair out of its bind and made her way over to the adjoining bathroom.

15 minutes later, clean and refreshed, Annabeth covered herself with a towel and head out into her room to grab her uniform. As she turned the corner coming out, she walked right into something.

"Oomph!" was the sound she made as she hit the ground, losing her towel in the process. Rubbing her head where she hit something hard, she opened her eyes and finally noticed what she hit.

Or well.

Who she hit.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't hear the shower sto-" his voice cut off when he looked down and saw everything. Literally everything. His face instantly went 50 shades of red, all the way to his ears and neck. Shutting his eyes tightly, he turned around and stood up, walking over to his bag on the bottom bunk.

" _SHIT."_  Was all Annabeth thought as she grasped her towel and jumped up. Her leg muscles screaming at her for the assault after her long run this morning. Ignoring the pleas, she grabbed her uniform and dashed back into the bathroom.

Leaning her head against the door, she let out a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding.

Quietly she said again, "shit shit shit."

What a way to start living together.

__-oOo-_ _

**Splash!**

He dove into the water, fingers pointed and soaring through the water like a needle. A flurry of limbs, dark hair and splashing. He made it to the other side of the pool and dipped down into the water, rolling and launching himself off the wall. Breaking the surface, he inhales deeply and begins kicking his feet quickly. Reaching the starting wall in record time. He leans his arms on edge of the pool and pulls off his goggles and cap.

"Percy, this is Jason Grace. He's going to show you to your room." Breathing heavily, he pulls himself out of the water and shakes his head like a dog. Spraying water everywhere. Thankfully there was only the headmaster and Jason around, so they got hit by the brunt of the water.

Laughing and wiping water off his face, Jason held out his hand for Percy to shake.

"Hey man, I'm Jason. I live right across the hall from you, so if you ever need anything just let me know, deal?" Jason asked, as him and Percy shook hands.

"Sure thanks."

They head off towards the dorm after Percy returned from changing into dry clothes. His hair was still wet, so they hurried to their destination.

"Hey man," Percy started as they walked through the front door of the dorms building.

"Whats up?" Jason replied, waving at the lady at the front desk.

"Is it true there are uh, co-ed dorms here?" Percy asked quietly, looking around curiously.

Jason laughed again and replied "Yeah, your roommate is Chase. She's a bit of a handful, and has been in her own dorm for awhile. Like I said, I'm right across the hall if you need anything."

"Is your roomie hot?" Percy asked, looking a little excited.

"Ew, dude. I room with my sister. Ugh!" Jason exclaimed, looking very grossed out at the idea.

Percy laughed and apologized. Still though, he was curious. As they neared his room, he got anxious.

Jason pointed at the door to Percy's room, and then gutted his thumb to the door behind his back.

"Like I said, right across the hall. Now go get ready and put on your uniform. Classes start in about 20 minutes. I'll show you where they are as well." Jason said with a smile, turning and disappearing behind the door.

Turning around, Percy fumbled with his keys and finally got the door open. Once inside he noticed how messy the place was. Granted, his roomie was a girl, and she had lived on her own for awhile, so it's no doubt that she got comfortable with it. Then he noticed the sound of the shower running, and assumed it was her. So he walked over to the bed and put his stuff on the bottom bunk, since her blanket and pillow were on the top one. Percy turned around to look for a dresser of some sort, or something to put his clothes in as the bathroom door swung open and out came his roommate.

In nothing but a towel.

And she ran right into him.

"oomph!" was the sound she made as they hit the floor, limbs everywhere.

"I'm so sorry I didn't hear the shower sto-" Percy voice cut off when he noticed her towel had fallen off from the fall. Silky porcelain skin and messy blonde curls along with a pretty curvy body accompanied his roommate appearance. Percy's face went about 50 shades of red, stretching to his ears and neck as well. Springing up and turning towards his bag he busied himself with whatever he could. He heard shuffling, then the bathroom door slam shut again.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Percy quietly mumbled to himself, "wow. What a way to start living together." Smiling to himself, he noticed another part of his body responded well to seeing a very naked, very beautiful girl in front of him.

Changing quickly, he closed the door behind him and knocked on Jason's door.

"Hey man," Jason said as he opened the door. He was standing there in his standard uniform, the only sign showing he was a senior was the red tie he needed to wear. The odd colours of his outfit didn't suit well with his blonde hair and blue eyes, but he somehow pulled it off.

"Yo Jase, move your big ass out of the doorway!" A girls voice came from behind Jason, and he smiled and stepped out the door.

"Percy, this is Thalia, my sister. Thals, this is Percy. Chase's new roomie." Jason said with a knowing smile.

Thalia. Her spiky black hair stuck out every which way he could imagine, the only resemblance these two had to being related was their blue eyes. Everything else was a stark opposite from the other. Jason's pale complexion to Thalia's olive skin. Blond hair to black hair. These two were definitely not twins. She was however, a senior just like Jason. Her red tie was wrapped loosely around her throat, clearly showing she did not want to wear it.

"Hey, whats up?" She asked.

Percy smiled and simply said nothing in response.

"Ready to go to class?" Jason asked.

"Mhmm, just waiting on you." Percy replied, smiling still. Him and Jason started walking down the hall when Jason spoke over his shoulder, "Tell Chase I said hi!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll tell her girlfriend you said hi." Thalia retorted, snickering as Jason stammered out a terrible lie. His face bright red, he just turned to look ahead and said nothing as they made their way over to the academic building.

While they walked, Percy thought to himself, _"I think I'm going to like it here."_ He smiled at his thought.

  


~~__-_ _ ~~ __oOo-_ _

  


Annabeth tried her best to calm down. Slowly, she dressed herself in her school uniform, braiding her hair down the side, and waiting out the storm. The bathroom wasn’t very interesting, so finding stuff to do while her roomie got ready and left was really difficult. Nit picking about things on her face, rearranging her stuff on the counter top so he would have room to put things there as well.

 

Finally Annabeth heard the telltale sound of the dorm room door opening and closing. Sighing out loud, she finally completely relaxed and unlocked the bathroom door. Walking out to the main room, she noticed his bag still on the bottom bunk. Glancing around, she didn’t see anything else that wasn’t hers.

 

Maybe he didn’t think he needed that much stuff?

 

Annabeth shrugged at the thought and padded over to the closet where her shoes were. As she got closer, she heard talking out in the hall.

 

Jason, definitely Thals, and her unknown roomie.

 

Pausing to listen a bit, she let out a frustrated noise when she realized she couldn’t make out any of the words. Well, she heard Thalia loud and clear, but that’s normal. As the voices died down, she tied her shoes and stood up. Finding her bag and shoving everything in it not so gracefully, she headed for the door.

 

“Your boyfriend says hi” Thalia said as Annabeth submerged from her room, looking down the hall for any signs of Jason and the new kid.

 

Laughing, Annabeth closed and locked the door behind her, heading off towards the academic building with Thalia in tow.

 

“Oh! I met your new roomie. He’s kinda cute, in a totally third person kinda view,” Thalia said, matter of factly, even pointing her finger to the sky like it was proof.

 

“I guess you could say I met him too” Annabeth replied, smiling at her friend.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I came out of the bathroom after my post-run shower and like, ran into him!”

 

Thalia gasped, and physically strained to keep a straight face.

 

Slapping her shoulder, Annabeth told Thalia what had happened that morning. As the story progressed, Thalia finally gave in, and broke out laughing. Ending up wheezing and sporting a very red face.

 

“So wait, did he see you know..” Thalia looked shifty eyed back and forth, then leaned in and whispered “your girls?”

 

Too embarrassed to speak, Annabeth just looked away and nodded. Thalia burst up laughing again, going on about how much fun it would be to have a male roommate who WASN’T her brother.

 

“Man, it would be so great! Sex. Kissing. You could sleep with him whenever you wanted to!” Thalia exclaimed, firmly holding Annabeth’s arm between her hands.

 

“I bet you wouldn’t mind being roomie’s with Nico now would you?” Annabeth teased, earning daggers from Thalia who finally calmed down.

 

“That isn’t relevant right now. We are talking about you!” Quickly changing the subject as they turned the corner to head to their class room.

 

Laughing again, Annabeth just sighed, and shook her head.

 

“Oh, right. His name is Percy.”

 

Confused, Annabeth looked at Thalia like she was growing another head.

 

“Your roommate doofus. His name is Percy.” Thalia practically shouted, earning a couple of sidelong glances and half asleep gazes.

 

“Oh.” Annabeth replied.

 

Walking into class, Piper waved at Annabeth and Thalia from the back of the class. Heading in her direction, Annabeth jumped slightly when she heard someone call her from the hall. Turning around, she spotted Luke and sighed. Looking over her shoulder, she signalled to Piper that she’d be there soon, and headed back out to the hall. Class didn’t start for another 10 minutes, so she had time to see what he wanted.

 

“Hey Beth, heard you finally got a new roomie.” Luke said as she leaned against the wall outside the class.

 

“Oh, yeah”

 

“Listen, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to get some coffee afters chool? Maybe talk a bit” He asked, glancing down at her.

 

Sighing, Annabeth turned and headed back to the classroom.

 

“Annabeth wait!” Luke exclaimed, grabbing her forearm to spin her around.

 

“Let go of me Luke!” Annabeth practically shouted, pulling her arm free.

 

“Annabeth please..”

 

“We’re done and over with. I need to focus on school. So can you please just leave me alone?” Annabeth shot out, not waiting for an answer as she spun on her heel and stormed back into her class.

 

As she sat down, Piper asked her if she was ok, but all she did was nod. Deciding not to push it, Piper turned back to Thalia and left Annabeth to her own devices. Pulling out her phone, she put her headphones in and turned up the music.

 

‘ _This is going to be a long senior year’_ Annabeth thought to herself as she idly wrote things down from the board.

 

‘ _No boys. No parties. No fun. Those are the rules!’_ She wrote down on her paper, over and over again. Sighing in defeat, she was just about to read when the bell rang.

 

- _oOo-_

 

Percy’s morning went by fairly quickly. Being the new kid when school started just over a month ago meant he was behind in his work. No surprise there though. Percy’s never been the guy that does his homework on time, or finishes assignments to the best of his ability. His mantra was simple.

 

‘ _Swim. Live. Enjoy.’_

 

And that’s what he’s been doing. And that’s why he ended up here. The upside to being here though, is that Percy got to pick and choose what classes he was going to take this semester, since he’s a senior. So after his first period English class let out, he was practically buzzing with excitement to get to the gym.

 

And boy did Percy love gym. He’s been swimming since before he could remember, though his mom says it was before he could even walk. At his former school he was the captain of the swim team, and even made it to regionals. Though, some shit happened, and he couldn’t compete.

 

As Percy and Jason weaved through the crowds of students in the halls, someone bumped right into Percy’s shoulder. Hard. On purpose. Stopping in his tracks, he looked over his shoulder at the mass of students, scanning them to see the culprit. When his eyes landed on the dirty blond headed guy glaring back at him, Percy knew who bumped him. Scowling, Percy turned around completely, but felt a hand placed on his shoulder, and Jason’s voice behind him.

 

“Percy man, come on. It’s your first day, don’t let Luke get to you.”

 

Glaring for another second, Percy turned on his heel and followed Jason the rest of the way to the gym.

 

“What’s his deal?” Percy finally asked.

 

“Oh, he’s Chase’s ex. They were together for 2 years, but shit happened, and now he wants her back.”

 

“So what does that have to do with me?”

 

“You’re her roommate you doofus. You get to spend a shit ton of time with her.” The smile on Jason’s face wasn’t entirely happy. Percy detected a very slight hint of jealousy behind it.

 

“Hey man, I would never get between you and her. I just live in the same room, that’s all.” Percy said promptly, pulling off his shirt to change.

 

Jason’s face went many shades of pink and red, and he stammered out a poor reason why Percy didn’t need to do that. The whole ordeal just made Percy break out laughing, and sufficiently calming himself down from earlier.

 

The rest of gym class went by without a hiccup. No fights, no arguments, just Percy having a pretty good time. As class was ending and lunch quickly approaching, Percy head over to the showers to get ready to eat.

 

Appearing from the shower room, he saw Jason sitting on the bench in front of his locker, reading something on his phone. He looked up as Percy neared, and smiled.

 

“Now the real fun begins.”

 

Smiling, Percy let Jason lead him to the cafeteria. Grabbing some stuff on his typical caf tray, he stood and waited for Jason to be done getting his stuff then turned around to scan the room.

 

Tables were filled, the whole room buzzing with conversation. Some girls looked over and Percy, then whispered to their friends and giggled. Smiling a little, he continued scanning. Then he noticed her.

 

It’s hard not to remember the girl he saw naked this morning.

 

She was sitting at a table with Thalia, a very pretty girl with choppy hair and tanned skin, and a couple of guys. Feeling Jason come up and stand beside him, he looked over and saw the huge smile plastered on his face.

 

“You sit with her at lunch?” Percy dared to ask, as they slowly made their way over to the table.

 

“Technically, I sit with Leo and Nico. Chase just sits with Thalia and Piper for the first couple minutes of lunch, then goes off to do something.” Jason replied, cutting his voice short as they neared the table.

 

“Jase my man, what’s up? Who’s the tagalong?” said one of the guys, who Jason introduced to be Leo.

 

“’Sup, so this is Percy. He’s new.” Jason said as him and Percy sat down in the empty two seats.

 

“Yo Perce. If you got any problems, or need anything, just call me up. I got you.” Leo stated confidently.

 

“The only thing you can get from Leo is detention or expultion.” the other boy said, much quieter than Leo had been. Looking at him closely, Percy felt like he knew him from somewhere, but he just couldn’t figure out how.

 

“Aw, come on Nico. Don’t be like that.” Leo cried, clutching his chest with feign hurt.

 

Everyone laughed. Including his roomie. Sneaking a glance at her, he finally got to see how pretty she really was. With clothes on of course.

 

Her blond curls from this morning were done up in a braid that went down the back of her head and over her shoulder. She wore he standard school uniform, red tie and everything. What caught Percy’s attention the most though, was her eyes. They were grey. Not like, pale blue or something. They were legitimately grey. So full of life when she smiled.

 

“So where you coming from Percy?” Piper asked, idly playing with her food.

 

Snapping out of his daze, Percy cleared his throat and told them about New York.

 

“Man, that’s so cool. I wish I was from some big city like that!” Leo said as he threw up his hands. Percy laughed, but it wasn’t genuine.

 

Looking up at the sudden sound of a chair moving, Percy noticed Chase standing up and grabbing her bag.

 

“Oh, you’re leaving already?” Jason asked, looking like a sad puppy. Percy held back a smile.

 

“Yup. Gotta work hard to graduate. Plus I had a pretty crappy morning, so I need the distraction.” She said as she hugged Piper, did some weird handshake with Thalia, and retreated to the caf doors.

 

“Awwww, is Jase upset his girlfriend left him?” Thalia teased, making Jason blush like crazy and tell her to shut up. Percy laughed, and looked over at Piper, who wasn’t laughing. Confused, he watched her as her face very briefly went from happy, to sad, to hurt, back to a forced smile.

 

Deciding against saying anything, the rest of lunch went by without a second thought. Leo made jokes, Nico mostly shot down the jokes, Piper laughed at most of them, Thalia and Jason argued like, well siblings. As Percy sat and got lost in his thoughts, he revelled in the idea of having friends. Of being in a group.

 

‘ _This place might not be so bad’_ he thought to himself with a smile, quietly watching his friends interact. As he looked around though, he noticed the same guy from earlier, the one who bumped into him in the hall. He was standing outside the caf, looking through the window, and glaring at him again.

 

__-oOo-_ _

  


_Thud_

 

“Shit”

 

Annabeth bent to pick up the library book laying on the floor from the stack she just dropped. Groaning, she plopped the stack on a table near her and began to sort through them. It was 4pm, and Annabeth was busying herself with her work to keep herself from her thoughts. The events from this morning played again and again in her head. She went over every excruciating detail in the hopes of figuring out what exactly Percy saw.

 

She paced up and down the aisles of the library, a couple books in hand, and lost herself in her thoughts. Normally the library is very dead at this time of the day, so she usually has time to relax, think, do whatever she wanted to do. Usually she just blasts music and ignores the world. But today, not even screeching music would calm her mind down. Though that didn’t stop her from putting her headphones in and turning it up a little too loud.

 

Annabeth spent the majority of the evening bobbing her head along to the music and putting books back on the shelves. It wasn’t a well paying job whatsoever, but it gave her extra spending money for her caffeine addiction during mid terms, and chocolate addiction during her period. If she really wanted money though, she could just ask her dad. Her dad, Fredrick Chase, was the owner of a multi-millionare software company. Because of his busy job description, she rarely got to see him. But if she ever needed money, he would transfer some into her bank account and voila, she had funds.

 

The downside to that? She moved around a lot. Annabeth never stayed in one school for the entire school year, nor did she live anywhere long enough to make friends. Until she came here. Upon reaching grade 10, Annabeth got tired of moving, so she convinced her dad to pay for her schooling at a boarding school so she wouldn’t have to move, and get behind in her studies. Now, two years later, she’s at the top of her class, honour roll, on the verge of becoming valedictorian for her graduating class. She had many friends, a terrible ex, and a new roommate who saw her naked. Things weren’t so bad. Maybe she should talk to Percy? Figure out what he saw, and possibly if he liked what he saw.

 

Shaking the thought out of her mind, Annabeth scolded herself for the very idea of getting involved with another boy. She had her rules. She needed to stick by them. Getting back to her work, she pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time and change the song, idly walking to the end of the aisle. Her phone read **7:12pm** and she sighed. _‘Only 18 more minutes’_ she thought to herself as she turned the corner, eyes glued to the screen of her phone instead of the wall of a person right in front of her. Until she ran right into him.

 

“Watch where you’re going!” Annabeth practically shouted at the person she ran into, not really enjoying the fact that she indeed, did not watch where she was going.

 

“We have got to stop meeting like this” said the person she ran into.

 

Her heart stopped, and her breath caught in her chest. Twice, in one day, she ran right into Percy.

 

Percy stood up, dusted off invisible dirt from his uniform pants and extended a hand out to her to help her up.

 

Annabeth’s face conveyed an array of colours, from pink to red, as she bit her lip and never made eye contact with the boy in front of her.

 

She didn’t realize his hand was outstretched for so long until Percy cleared his throat and moved his hand up and down like an invisible handshake.

 

Moving quickly, Annabeth scrambles to her feet and picks up her phone and headphones from the floor.

 

Sighing, Percy pulled his hand back and places it on the back of his neck, not making any signs of leaving or saying something.

 

Looking around, Annabeth turns to leave, but is stopped when Percy places a hand on her forearm and opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out.

 

“What?” She shot out, turning to look him in the eye.

 

Surprised, Percy simply pulls his hand back and lifts it up in a surrender position, smiling.

 

Rolling her eyes, Annabeth turns to leave again when Percy finally talks.

 

“I’m Percy.”

 

Stopping in her tracks, Annabeth sighs and turns around again.

 

“I know who you are.”

 

“Oh? I guess that makes sense, since we’re roommates now.”

 

Annabeth sighs again and extends her hand out to shake Percy’s.

 

“Chase. Annabeth Chase.”

 

“If you’re name is Annabeth, why does Jason call you Chase all the time?”

 

“Him and Thals have known me since the day I got here. I guess because I was always ‘one of the guys’ he just calls me a guy name now.”

 

Silence filled the void between the two of them, a very awkward tension that could be cut with a spoon now enclosed around them.

 

Clearing his throat again, Percy opened his mouth to say something again but Annabeth cut him off.

 

“What did you see- uh, well. I mean. um. How much did you see this morning?” She asked, face a bunch of shades of red. Not meeting his eyes, only fumbling her fingers around the hem of her shirt.

 

“Oh.” Percy simply said, realizing what she was talking about.

 

“Uh, I didn’t see that much. I swear. I closed my eyes right away, I promise!” He spat out, quickly becoming flustered like herself.

 

Annabeth laughed – a musical melody of emotion.

 

“Look, I won’t be back at the room for awhile, so don’t wait up, alright?”

 

Percy’s face scrunched with confusion, probably a hundred and one questions forming behind those green eyes of his, but he didn’t pressure. He simply bid goodnight, and left.

 

Annabeth continued with her work, knowing full well she was off a couple minutes from now. Getting lost in sorting through the titles, she didn’t notice someone else come up behind her.

 

“Told you he was cute.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Annabeth didn’t dignify Thalia’s statement with a response. She just went back to her work.

 

“Aw come on, you saw his eyes. And that _body_ – whew.” Thalia said, fanning herself with a book she picked up off the shelf.

 

Grinning, Annabeth snatched the book from her bestfriends hand and put it back.

 

“Fine. He’s cute. But I made a promise to myself this year. After what happened with Luke..” Annabeth’s voice broke off, not needing to explain any further.

 

Thalia sighed, and leaned against the shelf. “I will kick his ass. I promise you. Just say the word. I’ll make the boy cry.”

 

Annabeth laughed again, the emotions from bringing up her past subsiding.

 

“Now if only all the boys knew you were off the market this year. You’d break a lot of hearts, one very close to home.” Thalia simply stated, grinning.

 

“I don’t get why Jason doesn’t just date Piper! Like, _hello._ Pretty girl, right there. Obviously smitten by him.” Annabeth said after a frustrated groan, rolling her eyes at the thought of how stupid some boys can be.

 

“Uh, that would involve Jase looking at something other than your butt.” Thalia said while laughing, avoiding the book Annabeth just threw at her.

 

“It’s not funny Thals. Why can’t you tell him it won’t work? Please!” Annabeth pleaded, grabbing the book she threw.

 

“N-o-p-e. That’s your problem to deal with. Just state your point. No boys this year.”

 

Deciding not to respond, Annabeth busied herself with working again.

 

“You know I’m right Annie, don’t ignore it all.”

 

Annabeth sighed again, defeated. She knew she had to say something, she just didn’t know what. Deciding she needs some rest, she bid goodnight to Thalia, and head back to her room.

 

- _oOo-_

 

Percy knew his roommate wasn’t going to be very social with him from the very beginning. What he didn’t expect, was to go 3 months without having a full length conversation with her once. Sure, he would see her in the mornings for a brief couple minutes after her post-run shower, then again at lunch for the 10 minutes she stays at the table. But they live together for goodness sakes.

 

He comes back from swimming practice, and she’s out till curfew, working or studying in the library. She comes back, does more work, then goes to bed early. Percy has tried, on many occasions to talk to her, even for a couple minutes, but she avoids him like the black plague.

 

Did he say something bad to her? Was she mad at him?

 

Even Thalia didn’t know why she was acting like that.

 

Thalia.

 

Percy has grown closer to both the Grace siblings, but a lot closer to the black and blue counterpart to Jason’s white and gold, earning himself sidelong glances, and nervous smiles from Thals.

 

Things were different with Thalia. Percy knew he could have fun with her, whether it was doing legal or illegal activities. Jason knew his sister had access to getting drugs and alcohol on school grounds, and didn’t think twice about telling her to stop. Knowing how Thalia is, she wouldn’t listen.

 

The downside? Percy knew he couldn’t do things like that. His probation officer mentioned on his way out here that if he was caught breaking any rule, he would get sent back to the ward. That meant simple rules to live by.

 

No drinking.

 

No drugs.

 

No fun.

 

And it was killing Percy.

 

Socially – because he was invited to parties every weekend or so that had spiked punch or pot brownies.

 

Physically – because his body was still going through the withdrawals of his last escapade of drug use.

 

Within the past few months, Percy gained a lot of friends. No one seemed to think twice of the marks on his arm, or if they did, they never said anything about it to him directly.

 

As he sat down in his first period class, he noticed the looming glares from Luke still, and caught Thalia watching him. He smiled at her and waved, while she blushed and gave a small wave back in return.

 

Things in class were getting easier to deal with. His nervous habits still plagued his existence, but it’s reached a point where he could focus on his work instead of how many times his leg bounces up and down in the period of an hour. His highest count was 67 times, but that isn’t relevant.

 

Percy managed to get through his class without going too crazy, getting himself excited to head to the gym for the rest of the morning. As he walked out of class though, his eyes landed on his blonde roomie down the hall.

 

And she looked pissed.

 

Percy wandered over, ignoring the mass of students crowding the hall. As he got closer, he noticed who was talking to Annabeth, and it all clicked for why she looked like she could rip someones head off.

 

Luke.

 

Percy didn’t notice him leave class, he was too busy finishing his work to really care. But apparently he did, because there he stood, looking determined and annoying as usual. As Percy got closer, he caught the tail end of the conversation between the two.

 

“-said no Luke. So go away!”

 

“Annabeth come on. We always go to the Valentines Day dance together! Plus who else would even want to go with you?”

 

That’s when Percy stepped in, “Fuck off Castellan, she said no.”

 

Noticing Percy was there for the first time, Annabeth shot him a glare, but didn’t say anything. Luke just laughed, and laid his eyes on Percy. Green to blue.

 

“Well looky here. Are you offering to take our darling guest of honour to the dance, Jackson?” Luke said with a deadly glint in his eye.

 

Percy froze. He didn’t want to say yes, but he knew he had to do something.

 

“No, he isn’t. But I am.”

 

Startled, Percy spun around and noticed Jason right behind Annabeth, a hand on her shoulder. Thalia was right beside him, looking like she was ready to tear Luke a new one.

 

Luke’s laugh was dripping with poison, twisting his face into something malicious.

 

Thalia scowled and stepped forward, coming face to face with Luke. His laugh died down, but his smirk stayed evident.

 

“Listen here Castellan. No sorry girl would want to go to the dance with you after what you did.” Thalia said in a low voice, anger evident in her every word.

 

“Ok, that’s enough.” Percy stepped in, grabbing Thalia by the waist and leading her away. Jason put an arm around Annabeth’s shoulder and lead her the same direction as Percy and Thalia were going.

 

As they rounded the corner to the gym door, Thalia pushed away from Percy with force, making him step back a bit.

 

“What the hell Percy! I wasn’t going to hit him!” Thalia huffed out, throwing her hands up in the air.

 

“You guys didn’t need to step in. I had it handled.” Annabeth simply said, glaring at Jason and Percy.

 

Exchanging a glance at Jason, Percy shrugged. “Whatever then.” He said, turning to walk into the gym.

 

“Thank you though.”

 

Percy stopped and looked over his shoulder, noticing the blush creeping up on Annabeth’s face. She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

 

_“Whatever” he said again, throwing the door open and disappearing inside._

 

 

 

_-_ __oOo-_ _

It’s been months since Annabeth talked to Percy in the library. School was closing in on spring break – they all have 10 days off, and she knew she had nothing to do for that week. Thalia and Jason were heading back home for the week, leaving promptly on Friday after school. Thals had asked her mom if they could bring Annabeth along with them, but she disagreed. Pointing out the fact that Annabeth’s dad probably wanted to see her.

 

Annabeth knew otherwise. Her father never had the time to see her for idle visits. Too many appointments or things going array at the company. It was always something. Since she started at this school, she got used to spending every holiday within it’s walls – more accurately, in the library – and never really thought twice about if it was weird or not. Just something she learned to ignore. Obviously, she couldn’t stay at the school for the 3 months of summer vacation, so then she would head back to her dad’s condo in SF, and stay inside the entire time. There wasn’t a whole lot you could do at 17 in the city, so she got used to being inside. More homework.

 

So Annabeth knew she would be spending this break at school, more than likely alone. She didn’t know if Percy would be going back to New York to see his family or not, but she assumed he would. On the plus side, if he did leave, she wouldn’t be inclined to spend time with him over the break.

 

 

It was Friday afternoon, and Annabeth was dancing around the library grabbing books and putting them back on their rightful shelves. The library was always classified as a lonely place already, since so many students use their own laptops for homework, but now it just felt like a graveyard. The whole school did for that matter. Thalia and Jason already left for the week, Piper left last night, Leo was supposed to leave this morning but his flight got cancelled, so he’s here till tomorrow. Nico isn’t leaving, at least that’s what Annabeth figured, since he made no indication that he had plans to. The only other person left that she knew and kind of talked to was Percy. Jason mentioned he would be leaving on Friday, and be back in 4 days.

 

Time flew by as Annabeth worked, as she checked her phone a little later on, it read **6:57pm** in flashing red numbers. Blinking away the spots in her vision from the bright assault on her eyes, she head over to the librarian to ask if anything else was needed or if she could go. Nodding her approval, the librarian said she could leave early, as long as she clocked out. Annabeth did, then wandered out of the room.

 

The sudden feeling of loneliness kicked in to her bones as she made her way back to her room – which was more than likely empty. What with everyone gone to see their families and such, only the few stragglers that either couldn’t afford it or didn’t have a family to go home to stayed for the week. Annabeth couldn’t decide what category she fit into. She had a family to go home to, and she could afford to, but she still stayed here.

 

She made it to her room without running into anyone – not a single soul. She wasn’t surprised though. As she unlocked her door, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Not thinking twice about it, she just continued jiggling the lock in attempts at opening it. As her key finally twisted in the metal lock on her door, she felt a hand go around her shoulder and turn her around.

 

Then someone was kissing her.

 

Caught by surprise, Annabeth didn’t register what to do in her brain just yet. Something else was there though. A very familiar feeling of the lips on hers. They were soft, yet forceful.

 

Snapping out of her trance, she gasped and pulled away, slamming her back hard against her still closed door. Breathing heavily, vision blurry, she took a second to calm her heart rate down to see who was in front of her.

 

Then she froze.

 

“Luke”

 

He smiled at his name, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes one bit. It sent shivers down her spine, and not the good kind.

 

“I thought you would have gone to see your mom for the week?” He scoffed, rolling his eyes at my question.

 

“But then I couldn’t spend the week with you – All _alone._ ” He put so much emphasis on the word alone it sent another wave of shivers down my spine. He seemed to notice, and grinned again. Stepping forward to close the gap between them, Annabeth pushed her back further into her wooden door, fearing she might break it with her weight.

 

“There is no need for us to spend the week together Luke. Nothing is going to happen.” He rolled his eyes at her words again, tilting his head slightly to the side.

 

“What makes you think I’m giving you a choice in the matter Annie?” She sucked in a breath at his statement, her heartbeat growing more and more rapidly. He closed the distance again and grabbed her waist not so gently and kept his hand firmly there.

 

As Annabeth struggled, she kept shouting out no to him, clawing at his hands, anything to get him to stop. There weren’t anyone else in the hallway, no one to come help her. He tried to kiss her again, but she turned her face, allowing him access to her neck. As he trailed sloppy kisses down to her collarbone he nibbled at her skin, causing pain to flair up in a trail down her throat. All the stimulation did was freeze her core.

 

Biting her lip, she pulled all her body weight into pushing him off one last time. He stumbled back a step, clearly thrown off guard. With the second she had, she clasped her hand on the doorknob and twisted, falling inside and bolting around behind it to close the door quickly. Luke was quick though, as his foot quickly stopped the door. She groaned, and kept pushing. Looking around frantically, Annabeth grabbed the first thing closest to her – a metal hanger, and jabbed Luke’s leg with it over and over again. Finally hearing him groan in pain, he pulled his leg back and she slammed the door shut, locking it quickly.

 

Stepping back a few feet, she never took her eyes off the door, breathing heavily, she laid a hand on her neck, not daring to see what marks were surely left there. She continued backing up until her back hit the opposite wall. Her hands planted firmly against it as she slide her body down to a sitting position, never taking her eyes off the door.

 

‘ _What just happened?’_ she thought to herself, over and over again. Trying to grasp at straws about the events that just played out.

 

Sniffling slightly, she placed her hand on the side of her face, surprised to pull it back wet from unwelcome tears. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes. Trying to ease the pounding headache from her skull, she dared not to move, as she just sat there for what seemed like hours. Every little noise made her gasp. Feeling so helpless, she hated being scared.

 

If Luke was staying for the week, what would she be able to do?

 

What if he came back? This time for more..

 

Her thoughts trailed off into very unwelcome territory, as she tried to calm her racing pulse again. Her mind was racing, her hands shaking. The only thoughts that were clear were simple.

 

Ignore

 

Distract

 

And it never happened.

 

Letting out a calming breath, Annabeth stood up and closed the gap between the wall and her dresser. Fingering the handle, she stood there for a second, before sighing and pulling the drawer open wide. Fishing through her socks and panties, she scrunched her face in frustration at the lack of finding what she wanted.

 

Then she felt the cool metal hit her finger tips and she gasped. Grasping the object, she clung to it for dear life, her breathing still rigid, her body still shaking – this time from anticipation. She hasn’t used her tools in months, since before her breakup with Luke. She hated the ugly red scars that littered her legs, the fading ones that still lingered on her forearms.

 

They represented a time where she wasn’t in control anymore.

 

Like right now.

 

Standing there, she let her mind wander back to the events of this evening – Luke’s hungry eyes on her, his deadly grip on her side that surely left a bruise, the sickly feeling of his mouth on her skin sent unwelcome shivers down her spine again.

 

Closing her eyes from the burning tears that threatened to fall once more, she let out another shaky breath before backing up against the wall once more. Sliding down, the tears finally spilled over, and her whole body rocked as she cried.

 

Frustration seeped into her bones as she yelled out furiously, tangling her hands in her curls and pulling. Her body was shaking rapidly now as she let out a breath, and poised the blade at her wrist. Slamming her head back into the wall to stop the pounding headache, she whispered to herself -

 

“One for the cause” The metal bit into her skin roughly.

 

“Two for the pain” Blood dripped from her wrist.

 

“Three for the blame”

 

Her wrist was burning, her eyes were puffy, red and sore, her skull was throbbing. Everything hurt, but it gave leeway to the pain in her heart from the events early. She no longer felt anything. Just numb and tired.

 

She sighed contently, and dropped the blade beside her. Leaning her head back against the wall, she smiled, darkness filling her vision quickly. She closed her eyes slowly, allowing the darkness to envelop her every fibre.

 

As the last little bit of her consciousness gave out to exhaustion, she could of swore she heard the telltale sign of the dorm room door opening.

 

- _oOo-_

 

Percy hated flights. There was always something wrong, always something that made him either stay a little longer, or be stuck at the airport for hours waiting. This time it was the latter. His flight to New York was cancelled due to bad weather. No planes were leaving to his destination until Monday. He grumbled as he pulled up at the school’s parking lot and got out of his car. He slung his bag over his shoulder and head to the dorm building. It was late, closing in on 8pm, so no other buildings would be open and active right now.

 

Plus most people were gone. Jason and Thalia left early, Leo’s flight was cancelled as well but he leaves a lot earlier than Monday. Not too sure about Nico, Piper or Annabeth, but Thals said Annabeth might be staying for the break. Maybe he’d actually get to talk to her.

 

Things with Thalia has officially digressed into nothingness though. Percy didn’t know if it was him, or something else, but Thals seemed to be avoiding him as well. When he asked Jason about it, he just shrugged it off as “typical Thalia behaviour.” In the time he hasn’t been spending with Thalia now though, Percy has spent an unruly amount of time thinking about his roomie. She would go to bed before him most nights, and countless times he’s scolded himself for idly watching as she slept – her blond curls a mess on the pillow, her mouth open slightly as she let out content sighs.

 

Speaking of Annabeth.

 

She’s successfully avoided all contact with him for months, which is honestly a little surprising since they LIVE together. But hey, the girl has talent, that’s for sure. She’s never in the room when Percy wakes up for swimming practice, and he leaves before she comes back from her run, then he sees her at lunch for the 10 minutes. As of late she hasn’t been talking much in that time either. Then she would disappear, and not show up until late at night, do some more homework, then pass out. It was like living with a vampire.

 

As Percy neared the hallway to his dorm, he passed by the constant glares from Luke, who looked a little surprised to see Percy still at the school.

 

‘ _Yeah, I’m surprised too buddy’_ he thought to himself as turned the corner.

 

As he neared the room, he heard a loud thump come from inside. Curious, Percy leaned his ear on the door and tried listening to what was going on inside.

 

Then he heard another thump. This time louder. Confused, he jiggled his keys into the lock and opened the door. He took two steps inside before seeing what caused the noise. He dropped his bag, kicked the door shut and sprinted over to her side.

 

Annabeth lay up against the wall, seemingly unconscious. Her wrist was covered in blood.

 

“Fuck shit!” Percy shouted out in frustration, placing a hand under her legs and neck. Standing up he head over to the bathroom and sat her against the wall, closest to the shower. Then he got up, grabbed the tiny first aid kit under the sink and wet a towel.

 

Leaning down in front of her, he noticed how pale her skin was under the light. No colour lingered on her cheeks. Letting out a shaky breath, he gently grabbed her hand and rested her arm on his thigh. With shaky hands, he lightly dabbed the wet towel on her wrist, cleaning up as much blood as he could manage without hurting her.

 

As he gently rubbed her skin, he felt his eyes sting from the unwanted tears trying to come out. He looked down again, and saw how bad her arm was once most of the blood was gone.

 

“What did you do Chase?” Percy asked quietly, mostly to himself. Letting out a sigh, he grabbed the first aid kit and looked inside.

 

Picking up some alcohol wipes and bandages, he realized he might have to wake her up before the pain of cleaning the cuts does. As he let out a calming breath, Percy placed his hand on the side of her face, and spoke gently.

 

“Annabeth” Saying her name didn’t cause a stir, so he repeated himself, this time shaking her shoulder lightly. She groaned, but didn’t open her eyes. Feeling relief, Percy shook her a little harder.

 

Her eyes shot open as she backed up into the corner, getting as far away from Percy as she would manage, seemingly trying to become one with the wall.

 

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt you. Just relax.” Percy said soothingly, raising his hands in a surrender position. Annabeth seemed to calm down a little, noticing it was Percy right in front of her, and not someone else.

 

Then she quickly looked down at her wrist, and slammed her head back into the wall with such force that is made Percy flinch too.

 

“Hey, stop it. Please?” Annabeth looked up at him with a dazed look.

 

“You’re scaring me Annabeth, please just relax. Let me clean your arm, and we don’t have to talk, ok?” She seemed to think over his idea a little before moving back in front of him with a nod. Percy held out his hands as she placed her forearm in them. Her skin was hot to the touch, purely from the damage done.

 

“This might sting a bit, are you ready?” Annabeth nodded again, biting her lip and looking away.

 

Percy gently placed the alcohol wipe on her wound, she flinched away, trying to pull her arm back, but Percy gripped it with a little more force.

 

“I need you to sit still. Please, this will only take a second.” She nodded again, and relaxed her arm.

 

Percy rubbed her cuts ever so gently, cleaning as much as he could as Annabeth let out small whimpers from the stinging. When he was done, he quickly grabbed the bandages and wrapped it tightly around her wrist, covering the area effectively.

 

Sighing, Percy stood up and put the first aid kit back, then rinsed the blood stained towel in the sink, trying and failing to get it clean. Annabeth didn’t move while he cleaned up, just stayed seated in her corner. Finally sighing again, Percy turned to her and held out a hand for her to take.

 

“I’m going to watch a movie, you want to join?” She seemed to think about it for a second, then reached up with her left hand as he helped her up.

 

Heading back out to the main room, Percy padded over to the tv and turned it on, then grabbed the controller for the Xbox and switched on Netflix. He flung himself onto the bottom bunk and got comfy. Looking over at her with a smile, he simply pat the area beside him as a signal for her to come sit.

 

She bit her lip, clearly thinking about it, before finally walking over slowly, crawling into the bunk as well. Moving to sit in the corner, she let out a sigh and moved a bit closer to him.

 

Percy smiled again, before turning back to the tv.

 

“So, cheesy romance movie?” Annabeth shook her head, her curls flying everywhere.

 

“Ah, terror filled horror movie then?” Biting her lip, she shook her head again before grabbing the controller from Percy’s hands.

 

“Rude.” Annabeth laughed as she scanned the movies before landing on the one she wanted – The Lightning Thief.

 

Raising a brow, Percy didn’t say anything more as the movie started and she handed the controller back to him.

 

About halfway through the movie, Percy’s head was getting sore from leaning against the wall for so long, so he idly moved to lay flat on the bed, laying his head on Annabeth’s lap. She stiffened but didn’t protest. Finally she relaxed and put her attention back into the movie on the screen. She placed her hand on his chest and played with a bit of his shirt as the movie continued.

 

Then all too soon the movie was over, and Annabeth was convinced about watching the sequel. The way her eyes shone as she smiled, or how bright they got when she was excited. All Percy did was lay there and smile up at her as she talked.

 

Noticing him staring at her, she blushed and quickly turned the movie on, drowning out the awkward silence with the noise from the screen.

 

Not long into the movie, Percy looked up at Annabeth and saw her dozing off slightly. He laughed, and sat up before gently moving her legs beside him.

 

“What are you doing?” Percy looked up at her words, but didn’t reply. Simply smiled and shrugged. Laying down again, he moved over closer to the edge, giving her more than enough room to lay beside him.

 

Finally feeling her lay beside him, Percy smiled again.

 

“Hey Percy?” He hummed out his response, before turning his head the other way to face her.

 

_Then her lips were on his._

 

_-_ __oOo-_ _

 

_We were best friends, practically joined at the hip. He was always by my side, always there when I needed him. I was for him as well. We were inseparable. It’s not a surprise that we ended up developing feelings for the other. His smile got me through the days I couldn’t stand alone. I tried my best to help him get through the days he couldn’t stand alone. It always seemed like we were going to be together forever._

 

_It seemed like that anyway._

 

_Apparently everyone didn’t believe that though._

 

_It was February, and the Sweetheart dance was coming up soon. Luke hadn’t asked me yet though, which was odd. He practically leapt onto any opportunity to show off his girlfriend to his friends. Almost like it was a competition. He had to win. I was too naive to think anything was wrong with his lack of asking though, since we were together. It was obvious we would go together, right?_

 

_Wrong._

 

_I showed up to the dance anyway, feigning sickness so Thals wouldn’t follow. She hated these things. Though she secretly wanted someone to ask her to one. Walking through the crowds of my peers, grinding areas of their bodies against members of the opposite sex, I noticed a tad bit more head turns and gawking than normal._

 

_Ignoring the stares, I knew I had to find Luke. So I kept going, searching for my boyfriend. Then I found him._

 

_His face thoroughly attached to that of the head cheerleader and total bitch, Rachael._

 

_My heart physically broke, shards stabbing into different areas of my torso causing irreparable damage and turmoil inside me._

 

_Standing there, I just watched. Watched as the boy I loved with all my heart, was breaking that heart into tiny little pieces with each second. I opened my mouth and closed it countless times, trying and failing to get any sound to come out. Nothing seemed to work._

 

_Till it did._

 

_Luke turned at my sudden voice, face contorted into confusion. Then it hit him. He sighed and turned toward me, extending a hand for me to grab for. I almost did. But anger filled the void in my heart, filling up every single space that was now empty._

 

_Biting my lip from screaming, I turned on my heel and stormed away. Vaguely hearing Luke’s voice calling out from behind me, I shook off my shoes and ran._

 

_I don’t know how long I ran for. Hours? Minutes? It could have been seconds for all I know. Everything in my head was blank. Red. Anger filled everything inside me. But something else was creeping up as well._

 

_Regret._

 

_Sorrow._

 

_Disbelief._

 

_I made it back to my room, the surreal feeling of emptiness still controlling my being. Finally it hit me._

 

_Luke kissed Rachael._

 

_He cheated on me._

 

_Was I not good enough?!_

 

_Leaning my back against the door, I slammed my head back into it, black dots filling my vision from the impact. My fingers tangled in my hair as more thoughts flooded my mind._

 

_Not good enough._

 

_Not girly enough._

 

_Not skinny enough._

 

_Not tall enough._

 

_A long list of insecurities crept it’s way into my bleeding mind as I tugged on my hair to keep myself grounded._

 

_Physical pain to help deal with the mental pain._

 

_Then it clicked. I knew what I could do. I haven’t done it in months. A year and 2 months to be exact. I stopped a couple weeks before Luke had first kissed me. He was an outlet for stress, so I didn’t need this one. Now he was the reason I was stressed._

 

_Normally I would scale the amount of physical pain to mental pain, but in the moment, all I could see was red._

 

“ _How could I have been so blind?” mumbling to myself as tears brimmed my eyes. I poised the blade at my wrist, knowing this area is touch and go. One wrong cut and I could bleed out in minutes. My leg was safer, easier to hid as well. But who the fuck cares?_

 

_The metal dug into my skin as I cried out in pain, blood pouring from the straight line that now marred my pale skin. Grinding my teeth, I revelled in the feeling of bliss. More. I needed more._

 

_So more I did._

 

_I cut, and cut. Shredding my wrist with thick red marks. Blood stained my dress. It stained the floor. Tears streamed down my face, ruining my make up._

 

_I finally dropped the blade, it hit the floor with a loud clang, as I leaned my head back against the door. Closing my eyes, it revealed how tired I was. Sleep would be good._

 

_So I leaned my head to the side, and counted down from 10 as the world around me went black._

 

_Nothingness filled the void inside me now._

 

“Annabeth?”

 

Waking up with a start, Annabeth smacked her head into the boards of the top bunk, sufficiently causing dots to fill her vision instantly.

 

“Oh my god, are you ok?” Looking over, she noticed Percy sitting beside her on the bed – _his bed_ – holding a cup of coffee out for her. She just nodded, trying to calm her racing heart. She hasn’t dreamt of that night in months. It’s been over a year since that happened.

 

“Ok, well it’s early. But it’s Saturday. Do you go running on Saturdays?” She looked up at him confused.

 

“Oh uh, no. I tend to take breaks on the weekend.” He just nodded in response, getting up from the bed and heading over to his desk. Watching him closely, Annabeth noticed he was dressed to go out.

 

“Going somewhere?” He turned at her question, but stayed silent.

 

“Ok fine, don-” He cut her off before she could finish her remark.

 

“Are you ok?”

 

Startled, she looked up at him again, noticing his face filled with concern. Why wouldn’t she be ok? Thoughts filled her mind quickly, and as she tried to shift over to the edge of the bed to get off, she put an extra amount of weight onto her right arm. Instantly pain flared up at the assault, and she cried out in pain. Percy was in front of her within seconds, grabbing her hand and examining her wrist – which she finally noticed was covered in bandages.

 

“ _Shit”_ she thought to herself, pulling her arm back slightly. Noticing her movements, Percy stood again and backed up to the desk he was leaning against moments ago.

 

“I’m sorry, I just.. Are you ok?”

 

“Did you do this?” Pointing to her arm, she tried to catch his eyes, but he kept looking away, down at the floor or at something very interesting out the window.

 

“Percy” He looked up at his name, guilt wrapping his features. His green eyes looked so sad, it tugged at parts of Annabeths heart she didn’t know still functioned.

 

He was silent for awhile, before he finally spoke up. “Do you remember anything about last night?” Looking up at his question, Annabeth pondered before realizing she only remembered coming home from the library, never actually making it inside, then her memories come back to when she woke up and hit her head.

 

She shook her head at his question, and he sighed into his hands. He looked so tired. So defeated.

 

“Percy what happened?” He bit his lip at her question before sighing and plopping down on his chair, his face falling into his hands.

 

“I went to the airport yesterday evening to go back home for a couple days. But airports suck, and my flight was cancelled, so I had to come back here. I got back around 8ish, and the whole campus was deserted. Anyway, I made my way up to the room, figuring you might have left for the week or something.” He looked up as if asking a question, and Annabeth just shook her head in response.

 

“ _No where to go”_ she thought to herself, looking down at her arm again.

 

“I found you when I opened the door.” Annabeth’s head snapped up as Percy talked once more. He looked like he was about to break down. He stayed silent again. Rubbing his face with his hands once more.

 

“Percy please..” He sighed again as she pleaded. He looked so defeated, like he could keel over and sleep at any second.

 

Taking a shaky breath in, he continued. “I opened the door but the room was dark. I assumed you were gone or sleeping or something. But as I took a step into the room, I finally saw you.” His voice broke and he cleared his throat to try and help. “You were just, leaning against the wall. So peaceful. So pale. So _bloody_.” Hot tears spilled over Percy saddened face as he furiously wiped them away as they came rushing down.

 

Annabeth opened her mouth and closed it countless times, trying and failing to figure out something to say.

 

Letting out another breath, Percy continued talking. “I uh, brought you to the bathroom and cleaned up your arm. I had to wake you up though, which wasn’t easy.” He let out a shaky laugh, clearing his throat once more. “I cleaned up your arm, and put the bandages on it. Then we watched a movie.” He smiled at the thought.

 

“The lightning thief” Percy’s head snapped up at Annabeth’s remark, concern filling his every feature.

 

“You remember lastnight?” She shook her head at his question, before pointing to the screen where Netflix was still on.

 

“Oh right. My bad.” He looked sheepish as he talked, almost embarrassed.

 

Silence filled the room, not awkward, more comfortable. Annabeth’s mind raced with a hundred and one questions, but only one kept surfacing.

 

“Why did you help me?” Percy looked up at her again.

 

“Why wouldn’t I help you?” She shrugged at his answer, before looking down at her hands once more, idly playing with the itchy bandages on her wrist.

 

Percy sighed, “Contrary to your belief, I think we’re friends. And I helped you because you were basically bleeding out on our bedroom floor. You’re my friend Annabeth, I couldn’t just leave you.”

 

“You could have taken me to the nurse.” Annabeth huffed out, getting irritated now.

 

“Would you rather me carry your lifeless body through the halls of the school – which by the way still have a couple students in them – just to take you to the nurse?” She sighed and shook her head, the irritation dying out inside her.

 

“They took me to the nurse the last time..” Percy’s face riddled with confusion.

 

‘ _Right, he doesn’t know about that. Shit.’_

 

“Last time?” Annabeth sighed, before getting up off the bed and walking to her desk, coming up to stand right beside Percy.

 

“I started uh, doing this” she pointed down to her wrist, “when I was about 14. My mom died, my dad never had time for me. I was stressed from moving school to school every couple weeks. So I found an outlet that worked.

 

“When I moved here, I loved it. I had friends. People I could trust. So I stopped. No one knew, the scars were faint, or on my legs. Then I started dating Luke, and he found out. But he never called me down or made me feel bad about it. He just wanted to keep me safe, so I wouldn’t have to keep doing that.” The smile on her face faded a bit, darkness clearly kicking in.

 

“Just over a year ago, I found out Luke was cheating on me.” Annabeth’s voice broke, sobs trying hard to break through her composure. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and continued. “I went to the dance – the Sweetheart dance – to see if he was there since he didn’t ask me to go with him. Which was odd, right? Cause we were together for a year. But once I got there, I found out why he didn’t ask me. I found him, tongue thoroughly down her throat, with Rachael. So I left. I ran. Not sure for how long, but I did. I made it back here” she extended her arms around the room, “and before I know it, my back is against the door, I’m pulling my hair, and just feeling like shit.”

 

Annabeth inhaled sharply, then pushed herself off the desk beside Percy, who was eerily quiet during her whole story – which she hasn’t even finished yet. She looked up at him with weary eyes, looking right into his. Grey on green. His eyes held no ill will, no sign of pity, or disgust. They looked almost sincere?

 

Taking another deep breath, Annabeth started pacing the room and finishing her story.

 

“I remember sitting against the door, and wanting to get the pain out of my head. Needing to. So I slammed my head back against the door, I don’t know how many times – they said it must’ve been a lot though, because I suffered from a concussion.” Percy pushed himself off the desk, and stood beside her, reaching out to touch her face gently. She flinched away from his hand, very slightly, but the hurt that flashed across his features tore holes through Annabeth’s mending heart. He recovered quickly, and went to go stand by the wall near the window – where he said he found her lastnight. When he finally got comfortable, he spun around and leaned his back against the cool surface, looking at her expectantly.

 

“Oh right, uh. Ok well. I don’t really remember what happened exactly. I just remember feeling so alone, and hurt, and just wanting to get the pain out of inside me. So I went back to what I knew would work. And it did.” She nearly choked on her words, inhaling sharply again. Clearing her throat, she continued. “Uh, I passed out sitting against the door, my razor in my hand, and pain all over. I woke up the next day in the hospital. Not the nurses office. The hospital. I had tubes poked into me, bandages covering my arm, and a very tired Thalia sleeping in the chair beside my bed. I woke her up, and she told me what had happened.

 

“She found me later that evening, bleeding out from a cut far too deep than I intended.” Percy made a sound, but let her continue “they kept me in the hospital for weeks. Making sure I didn’t hurt myself again. I stopped again. I tried _so hard_ -” her voice broke, and sobs finally shook her whole body. She dropped down to the floor on her knees, Percy was at her side instantly. His arms wrapped around her small frame with ease as he tried to calm her down.

 

“I’m so sorry..” She could feel his breath on her ear as he spoke, so soft and gentle.

 

- _oOo_ -

 

It’s been two days since Percy found Annabeth on the floor of their room, bloody and broken. He hasn’t slept much because everytime he closes his eyes, he sees her lifeless body in his arms. So frail, and tiny. He hasn’t left her side in those two days either. He had to make sure she was ok. Which also meant one thing;

 

He wouldn’t be going home for the week.

 

The thought came to him when he was holding Annabeth after she told him her story, about what happened before. Being in the hospital. It scared Percy so much. Knowing he might not have known her if Thalia hadn’t found her. But it also begged to question.

 

What if he didn’t find her?

 

Would he have come back on Friday, and find her dead and bloody? He shook the thoughts from his head as he quietly closed the dorm room door behind him. Annabeth was sleeping in his bunk again, soundless and calm. She hasn’t slept in her bed once since the night he found her. She says its from nightmares. But maybe she just didn’t want to feel alone. Percy stalked down the hallway, wandering over to the lounge area on their floor, and pulling out his cellphone.

 

With slightly shaky hands, he dialled the number for his moms house and clicked the green button to start the call. She picked up on the second ring, clearly not busy with something this Sunday.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hey mom.”

 

“Percy! Hi. How are you? Is everything ok? Did they cancel the flight again?” She asked a million question before stopping to take a breath. Percy just smiled, and sighed.

 

“No, they didn’t. But mom, uh. Something came up here, and I have to stay.”

 

“Oh. Ok then.” The hurt in her voice kicked Percy’s heart into little pieces. He missed his mom like crazy, so not going to see her really sucked. But he needed to help Annabeth. His mom would understand.

 

“I’m 100% ok, so don’t worry about me. It’s just a friend. She’s having a bit of a rough time, and I didn’t want to leave her alone for the week.” His mom let out a laugh, knowing she assumed his “friend” was a little more than that.

 

“Well alright. I miss you. I guess I’ll see you at graduation then?”

 

“Of course. I’ll be the one in blue.” She laughed again, before telling him she loved him, and to call her soon.

 

“I will mom, bye.” He pulled the phone away from his ear, and hung up the call. Feeling 20 pounds heavier from the pain in her voice, he sighed.

 

“Aw, aren’t you just a little mama’s boy?” Percy stiffened as he heard the telltale voice of Luke, the guy who not only hated Percy for unjustifiable reasons, but he was also the one who made Annabeth hurt herself really badly last year.

 

Rage filled every fibre of Percy’s being as he spun on his heel and slammed his fist into the jaw of Luke, clearly caught off guard by the assault. Without giving him a second to recover, Percy was on top of him, hitting over and over again. When he finally stopped, his knuckles were bloody, and raw, but he still smiled.

 

Luke’s face was bloody, bruised and swollen. His nose was bleeding, and his eye was already purple-ling around it.

 

“The fuck’s your problem Jackson?!” Percy smiled as Luke wiped blood from under his nose, standing shakily.

 

“You are. And if you ever bother Annabeth again, I’ll do this again. Only worse.” Luke’s face darkened, before he spun on his heel and retreated, muttering curses under his breath.

 

Grinning wickedly, Percy shook his hand from the pain that radiated from it, and returned to the room. As he stepped inside, he looked over and saw Annabeth still sound asleep, clutching her pillow for dear life. He retreated to the bathroom to wash his hand, and deal with the cuts from his abuse.

 

Once he was done with cleaning the damage on his knuckles, Percy moved back into the main room and sat down beside Annabeth’s sleeping frame, smiling down at her. He gently moved a couple strands of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. His eyes trailed down her body, over the curve of her hip and almost landing on the arch of her ass, but something else caught Percy’s eye.

 

Annabeth’s shirt was pulled up slightly, probably due to her shifting in her sleep. It revealed the porcelain skin of her side and hip, but it also showed something a little more.

 

He moved the waistband of her shorts down very slightly, gaining a better view of what he wanted to see. But it wasn’t something he wanted to see. It was something that made Percy’s blood boil and hands shake as he reached out to gently touch it.

 

It was the fading purple of a bruise, very clearly the size and shape of a hand.

 

_A male hand._

 

__-_ _oOo-_ _

 

‘ _I think I like Percy. Well I mean, I like him, but I think I like_ like _him, you feel? It’s just that, ever since Friday he’s hasn’t left my side. He’s gotten me food, made me laugh, even carried me to the shower before politely turning his back while I got in. He’s just so kind, I can see the kindness in his eyes. Those green eyes I wake up to every morning._

 

_Oh right, I’ve been sleeping in his bed every night as well._

 

_Don’t look at me like that! We haven’t had sex or anything. We haven’t even kissed!_

 

_Ever since my breakdown though, I’ve only been able to get sleep if it’s wrapped in his arms. And honestly? I kinda like sleeping with him, feeling his arm draped over my side, his breath tickling the back of my neck. I just feel so safe with him, in his arms. I’ve never felt this way with anyone before. Even Luke._

 

_I know, I know. Him and Thalia are supposed to be a thing or whatever, since she would not stop talking about him before. But I don’t know. She seemed to have lost interest in Percy a week before she went back home. Oh god I’m a terrible friend. Jumping on her prey while she’s out of state. Oh man._

 

_But then there’s also my rules. I can’t just, ignore them. But I can’t just ignore Percy, not after everything he’s done this past week. Hell, he even stayed here instead of going to see his mom for a couple days. When he told me that I almost started crying. How could I deserve someone like him taking care of me after all I’ve done to push him away? After making him find me, bloody and unconscious on our floor._

 

_As for how I feel about what actually happened. I still can’t remember any of it. And I think that’s the part that bothers me the most. Because if I remembered what had happened to push me to that point, I could justify why I had indeed hurt myself. But I just can’t fucking remember. Ugh. It’s so damn annoying drawing blanks in my own mind. Every time I try to figure it out, I get so angry with myself for not remembering. Hot tears burn my eyes as I strain to scan my mind for any details, even slight. Percy would calm me down after one of my attempts at remembering, mumbling something about how it’s better not knowing and assuming, than knowing and finding more reasons to blame myself. I don’t know if I agree with him completely, but for now I might have to._

 

_I haven’t been out of this room much in the past 5 days though, since my bandages cover a majority of my arm and it’s hot out so wearing a jacket would gain me some unwanted attention. The cuts are healing, rather quickly as well. Percy insists I keep my bandages on though, so I don’t get an infection. Silly boy, I know how to deal with this already. I’ve told him I know how to deal with it too, but he just doesn’t seem to care. Or rather, he doesn’t want to acknowledge that I know how to cover this up easily. But alas, for now they are just incredibly itchy, and uncomfortable. One is still a little tender to the touch, and I suppose for good reason since I didn’t mean to push so hard._

 

_When Percy noticed just how deep that one was, the concern and sadness that filled his features almost stopped my breathing. How could someone I blatantly ignored treat me with such kindness and caring?_

 

_I don’t deserve this._

 

_I don’t deserve him._

 

_And he isn’t even mine. We’re not dating, he has no obligation to help me. So why is he doing it?_

 

_Ugh, anyway,_ _I’m supposed to be resting more, but my mind was going a mile a minute and I needed to get it out before Percy came back with more food – more than likely just another handful of junk food.’_

 

Annabeth typed out her last couple words, saved, then shut her computer once again. Shuffling back over to Percy’s bed, she plopped down and got comfy. Grabbing the controller, she scanned through Netflix looking for something to watch, finally deciding on Arrow. What can she say, Oliver is kind of hot.

 

The door to their room opened soon after, a disgruntled Percy emerging from it with snacks in tow. Everything he held had more than enough sugar in it, other than the pretzels he always got for her.

 

“I come bearing gifts!” Annabeth just laughed at his remark before moving over so he could sit down beside her. He glanced up at the TV then back at her with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Arrow.”

 

“Ah, gotta get your Queen fix for the day.” She laughed, causing Percy to smile.

 

“It’s not my fault Oliver Queen is a billionaire playboy who has the body of a god!”

 

“Are you saying that’s the only way I could get your attention? Become a billionaire with a body of a god.”

 

Without thinking, Annabeth simply shot out a reply. “You already have the body, you just need the money.”

 

Percy’s eyebrow shot up and a smirk plastered itself on his face. Annabeth’s face in return went all shades of red, reaching go her ears and neck as well. Awkward silence filled the room as Annabeth tried hard to not apologize for what she said.

 

As Percy’s hand reached out to touch her face, she flinched away and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that!” She lost the internal battle with herself as she shot up from the bed and ran to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, she noticed Percy calling out protests.

 

With her back against the door, she was momentarily brought back to that night so long ago, with her back against the door, the world at her feet. Her life in her hands. She let out a shaky breath as she registered Percy knocking on the bathroom door.

 

“Hey come on, please come out. You’re scaring me.” She could almost hear the sadness in his voice, picture the way his eyebrows knit together when he was sad, and his lower lip pouting outwards. She stood up and unlocked the door.

 

Within seconds Percy was in the bathroom with her, but instead of saying anything, he simply stepped forward and placed his lips on hers.

 

Annabeth’s body stiffened before pulling away and hitting the wall. Shock filled her features as her hands shook and tears broke through her guard.

 

“Shit! Please don’t cry. Please please please. I’m sorry I did that, I’ve wanted to do that for awhile now. I’m really sorry!” Percy was rambling, frantic to get her to stop crying. He didn’t touch her though, just kneeling down in front of her and rambled.

 

Percy sighed again, before finally saying “You kissed me the night of your breakdown. I didn’t say anything because you didn’t remember, but you did and it was amazing..” he trailed off, looking anywhere but her face.

 

She kissed him?

 

Confusion racked her body as she tried to sooth her racing heart. “I did what?” she breathed out, pushing off the wall slightly.

 

Percy backed up a bit to give her room before saying it again. He recapped the night again, this time with the kiss.

 

Realization lit up Annabeth’s features as she finally figured it out.

 

“That’s the reason you stayed with me, isn’t it? You thought we would get together.”

 

“What?! No! I stayed with you because I didn’t want to leave you alone again!” Annabeth scoffed at his words, rolling her eyes.

 

“Annabeth you have to believe me. When I found you I was so scared. I thought you were gone. Then I cleaned you up, and you calmed down. When you kissed me I was shocked. I didn’t think for once that you even liked me remotely close to friend wise, let alone more than that.” Her steely facade was shredding with every word he spoke. She didn’t know who to believe. Him, or her spotty memory and bad judgment calls.

 

“So we didn’t do anything else, right?” Percy’s face dipped with confusion before he realized what she meant.

 

“Oh, no. Nothing happened. I swear. We kissed for like a couple seconds, then you fell asleep. Cross my heart!” he made an x over his chest, determination in his features.

 

Annabeth sighed, defeated. Then she remembered something that made her anger spike.

 

“If nothing happened, explain this!” She lifted her shirt slightly and exposed her hip, showing the fading yellow of a bruise.

 

“That was on you before I found you! I saw it the day after I found you. I swear I had nothing to do with it!” Percy’s desperation was palpable, his innocence clearly vision through his green eyes.

 

“Then where did I get it from?!” Annabeth screamed out, mostly to herself. She dropped to the ground again, face in her hands as sobs rocked her body. She felt Percy’s arms go around her, very slowly in case she flinched away again. She didn’t move though, just let him comfort her.

 

_-oOo-_

 

These past couple days have been out of this world. Annabeth is a goddess. She’s smart, beautiful, genuine, kind, and everything else. Her smile causes my heart to do these little flips I didn’t even know was possible. Hearing her laugh makes me feel like I’m on clouds. I love watching her do the things she loves to do, like read. The smile on her face when something funny happens, or concern when something bad is happening. She’s amazing, in every way.

 

I think I might be in love with her.

 

I want to protect her. In every way. I don’t ever want her to have to hurt herself again, not if I can help it. I don’t want to it to be classified as “changing” her, so much as wanting her to be happy enough that she doesn’t need that anymore. I want to be the reason she’s happy like that.

 

When I came back and found her, I felt more than my heart break. It was shattered. Irreparable. Until I saw her smile the next day, so full of life. Even after almost having that life drained out of her, she still found a reason to smile. She still had a reason to laugh, and joke, and be free. I’m so glad I got to witness that part of her. The months of knowing her for just a few minutes was nothing compared to how I know her now.

 

She can be free, and open. She wanders our room in shorts and a tanktop, exposing a lot of skin, and also a lot of scars. I try not to look at the scars, fearing she might be self conscious about them, but I do wish to ask her about it. Even if it’s just a simple yes or no. And I do.

 

When we sit down on my bed that evening, I pull her legs onto my lap, and gently trace circles up her calves. She smiles a bit, trying not to show that it tickles. Biting her lip slightly to keep from giggling. God she is so beautiful. Continuing my path upward, I gently trace the first few scars I find – simple straight lines, parallel to the other. Resting my eyes on hers, I ask a silent question. She nods her response. I keep going.

 

I trace scar after scar, some darker and more prominent than others, some faded to almost whiteness. I never take my eyes off her skin, revelling in the feeling of it under my touch. The softness, much like when I got to touch her skin for the very first time. That first day, when I saw her naked, sprawled out in front of me. How had I not noticed the scars? The angry red marks marring her perfect body. Maybe I was blind to the beauty. Maybe I didn’t want to see them. Who knows. I see them now though, and every one of them I find, I trace over very gently, and place a feather light kiss on top of.

 

She flinches away the first time I do this, but only for a second. She’s gotten used to my touch, the feeling of my hands on her. Even though its been few and far between when my hands are actually on her, it’s still more than I’ve seen anybody touch her. Looking into her eyes, I see a flash of fear run through her, before she stuffs it down and smiles at me.

 

I hate when she does that. She doesn’t have to be scared of me. I would never hurt her like the person who put that bruise on her would. Said bruise has faded, but the memory is still fresh. If I make sudden movements or touch her too quickly, she flinches away, retreating to the nearest wall or corner. Her body shakes, her breathing uneven, but I calm her down quickly. Soothing words and gentle touches usually do the trick, though sometimes I need a little more. Bringing her pretzels usually works for that little bit of help I need.

 

It’s Saturday now. Jason and Thalia will be back tomorrow, no doubt bringing a storm of stories and questions for her. And me. She tells me her arm will be completely healed by then, but I can still see the angry red marks that mar her soft porcelain skin. She’s asleep in my bed, curled up around me. I very gently tuck her hair behind her hear, admiring her once again. Her face is so soft when she’s asleep, her mouth slightly open as she dreams contently. I trail my eyes down her body, landing on her wrist, and ever so slightly I lay my hand on it. Covering the marks.

 

No more heat generates from the wounds, meaning they are healed, they just need to scar now. There is only one that still itches her, but she insists it’s ok, and says she can wear bracelets or something to cover it for awhile.

 

“No one else needs to know, ok?” She says to me, over and over again. She’s determined to finish school without another incident like before. I don’t blame her. I will do everything in my power to make sure she’s safe.

 

-

 

Percy wanted – no, more like needed – to figure out who gave Annabeth that bruise. As the break came to an end, many students came home. It was difficult to pinpoint who exactly was here over the entirety of the break since most of his time was spent in the room making sure she was ok.

 

He was sitting at his desk, groaning from the homework he should have done over the week, instead of letting it sit till Friday before school starts.

 

“You should have done that days ago seaweed brain.” He smiled at her voice, spinning in his chair to see her sitting up in his bed, stretching her limbs out carefully.

 

“I think you misunderstand the definition of procrastination Wise girl.” she laughed at his remark, standing up and walking over the desk.

 

“Calculus huh? Sounds like you’re going to have some fun today.” He groaned at her words, giving her a menacing look, or so he hoped, but she just laughed.

 

“It’s not funny. I suck at math. Why is math mandatory anyway?” He huffed out, laying his head in his hands. He felt her hand place gently on his shoulder before she laughed at him again, saying something about how school is important.

 

Percy spun in his chair quickly, grabbing her hand as she flinched away. He gently pulled it forward, planting a soft kiss on her wrist, right over her healing cuts. She looked at him sheepishly, before pulling her hand away again.

 

“Percy, I need to focus on school. I can’t be with anyone right now.” He sighed at her words, having heard them over and over again over the past 3 days. It was becoming evident that she needed the convincing more than he did.

 

“What do you have to lose though? It’s not like I would ask for sex every single night, or attempt to distract you from school. I like you Annabeth, and this works. So why not let it work?” He’s asked this question time and time again, more irritation kicking in this time. Why couldn’t she just believe him?

 

Looking defeated, she sighed before plopping down in her chair. Placing her face in her hands, she let out a shaky breath before speaking.

 

“I’m scared, ok?”

 

“Scared of what?”

 

“You. That you’d hurt me..” Percy couldn’t keep the shock from his face as he took in her words.

 

“But I would never-”

 

“I know. At least I think I know. It’s just how I am. I’m sorry.” She stood up quickly, and retreated to the sanctuary of the bathroom, her refuge from awkward moments with him.

 

Sighing in defeat, he turned back to his homework. A couple minutes went by and he was still stuck on the same problem. Groaning once more, he slammed his fist into the table.

 

“Ok” Her voice was so quiet, he almost didn’t hear her. He spun around quickly, noticing he didn’t hear the bathroom door open at all. Confusion must’ve been all over his face, because Annabeth just laughed and padded over to where he was.

 

She repeated herself. “Ok, I believe you.” Percy’s face lit up, finally understanding what she meant. “But! I have rules.” He laughed, before standing up to be almost face to face with her.

 

“Number 1—No distracting me from homework, or in class.” He nodded his response, watching her carefully.

 

“Number 2 – This goes as fast as I want it to, ok? We aren’t going to jump the gun and have sex tonight, is that clear?” He nodded again, stepping forward slightly.

 

“And number 3 – we need to be 100% honest with each other, ok? You know my secret, so I will talk to you if something comes up. I expect the same, got it?” He pondered this for a moment, before nodding once again.

 

“Ok then, so that’s that.” Her determination died down, and realization kicked in. Her face went red, and Percy laughed.

 

“So I can do this?” He simply asked, placing a hand on the side of her face and leaning his face down to hover inches away from hers.

 

She bites her lip, as if thinking about it. Looking up at him, she just nods. He smiles again, and closes the distance.

 

_And boy what a kiss that was._

 

 


End file.
